During his appearance on The Steve Austin Show, Jim Ross spoke about a possible return to WWE and said he didn’t think his style of announcing would work in today’s environment. Here are highlights:
On today’s WWE commentators: “I think those guys have a tough job. It’s just a different style. I’m kind of glad that I’m not [in that position]. [WWE] have more to sell. They have a mall where these other wrestling companies have a storefront. They have a smaller inventory to sell, whereas the WWE has a ton of things to promote and sell and their own network, et cetera, et cetera. So the announcers are obligated to get so much of that content in and that’s built into the show.”
On not doing well in today’s WWE: “I do miss walking out there and sitting down and going to work, but I don’t know that my style in what I’m most comfortable in doing would be applicable in WWE these days based on how the guys are produced and the obligations they have to get the product over and all the stuff they [have] got to sell.”
On missing WWE: “I miss the red light going on. I miss the crowds. I don’t miss the TSA people. I don’t miss the hotel representatives or the rental car guys or whatever. I feel like I’m an old wishbone [offense] football coach that the game has passed me by [in] that respect. And until the wishbone got back in fashion, I don’t know that I could do as good as I would like to hope that I could. But I miss it. I miss doing it. And certainly, I miss trying and if I had the opportunity to call just a straight [professional] wrestling show, I’d be jacked to get that opportunity. But there ain’t much of those out there and there [aren’t] many gigs open, and so I’m happy to be like kind of what [Austin] said. The armchair quarterback [position] works for me. I could do that from right here in the house.”
On working with Jerry Lawler on WWE 2K16: “This sounds egocentric, I’m sure, [but] we hadn’t missed a beat. It was so natural. It would be like, I would suggest this. I always thought that [Austin] versus the Rock had great chemistry and I believe that [those] guys, in a different time, not 2015 [going] into 2016, but in a different time, [Austin and the Rock] could have been away from each other and [they] could be booked back into a match and I’d be very disappointed if [Austin and the Rock] missed too many beats. There was just a genuineness, an authenticity, and a feel, and that’s kind of what Jerry and I had.”
On turning Jerry Lawler heel: “I’ve always given [Lawler] the credit for the success of our team because he is just so naturally good. And quite frankly, if WWE wanted to be bold, there’s your great [heel announcer]. He has a hell of a lot more fun being a heel broadcaster than a good ol’ lovable Uncle Jerry that survived a heart attack on the air. He loves being a heel, but that’s not his role right now. That’s not how he’s cast.”
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